Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Pedro Rodriguez | Comedian Warren B. Hall performs his routine for the audience at the Washington Navy...... read more read more
WASHINGTON - Performing for more than 300 Washington Navy Yard (WNY) personnel, comedians from the “Comics Duty World Tour” brought laughter to a laugh and lunch show Oct. 16.
The event was sponsored by Civilian Morale Welfare and Recreation (CMWR), hosted by Naval Support Activity (NSA) Washington Morale, Welfare and Recreation to boost morale for military and civilian employees. NSA MWR Marketing Manager Lori Riccio-Walker, who helped coordinate the event, said that Comics on Duty has been entertaining WNY employees since 2005.
”The comedians were definitely very excited to help us boost morale here at the Yard especially while we have been going through these hard times,” said Riccio-Walker. ”They were looking forward to allowing our employees the opportunity to take some time out of their day to get their minds off what has been going on and making them laugh.”
Daniel Tirado, Jon Fisch, Warren B. Hall, and Keith Alberstadt headlined the hour-long show performing 10- to 20-minute sets in front of nearly 300 employees.
“We try to make people realize that life does continue and it’s sad but we want to be thankful that we are all here alive,” said Hall. “For me to do anything for the military is like saying thank you to my mother. She was in the Army for 26 years as a sergeant major, so this is like saying thank you to her because I would want her to have someone perform and make her forget something bad happened yesterday.”
Olivia Hunter, NDW regional community services manager, was among the 300 crowd pleased with the Comic Show.
“I thought the show was excellent. All four of the comedians were really funny and very entertaining,” Hunter said. “Quite frankly, it was perfect timing for me because I realize that yesterday was the one month anniversary of the tragic event that happened here, and consequently, laughter is always a very good healing remedy for those people that were going for some type of emotional situation. I felt like the Navy Yard needed some laughter to help through the healing process.”
Alberstadt, who is a veteran comedian, has traveled with Comics on Duty since 2005 and said that it has has been the best thing in his career.
“To be involved with the military as a civilian and as a comedian is something I wanted to do since I started in comedy,” said Albesrtadt. “So I got involved in ’05, and since then, working for Comics on Duty probably has been the best thing about my career. I love it!”
Riccio-Walker said that the event served a greater purpose than bringing a few laughs to the installation.
“Since our Fleet & Family Readiness main mission is to provide quality of life programs to our customers, we were really looking forward to providing this event for our patrons,” said Riccio-Walker. ”It has been a very hard month for everyone here at the Yard and giving a boost in morale is something we love to do. With the help of civilian Morale, Welfare and Recreation, the Catering and Conference Center staff, our information tickets and tours office, and our whole team, I think we were able to provide a great event for our Navy Yard patrons.”
The Comics on Duty Tour the highest “network-caliber” comedy programs to the armed forces, while affording host installations and commands with the cost savings benefits of a joint force, multi-market, turn-key promotion.
For more news from Naval District Washington, visit www.navy.mil/local/ndw/.
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 10.17.2013 15:21 |
| Story ID: | 115305 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DC, US |
| Hometown: | WASHINGTON, DC, US |
| Web Views: | 39 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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